Microsoft Office for iOS Said to Launch in Early 2013, Offer Only Basic Functionality

ChrisTX said:

Whether MS likes it or not, iOS is the dominant mobile OS with business. And the iPad is the standard all other tablets strive to be. I don't need or want limited function Office. I want full featured Office, and have no problem paying for it either.

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That's exactly the reason why they will cripple the version for iOS, even with the subscription. I would do the same thing if I wanted my tablet to gain traction in the business market.

I really hope Apple will develop their iWork apps further and make them more usable to be competitors to Office, because MS might be behind a few years in App store size and tablet sales, but the business market is a massive factor in playing catch-up.

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Confuzzzed said:

Office is the only thing MS has going for it and its only chance to be at the table in the post-PC era. Shame they haven't quite realised that yet

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They have. They will offer it on the Surface. The soon major competitor to the iPad. Microsoft is being smart. They don't want all these iPad owners to download Office and be happy. They want iPad owners to sell those things and buy Surface tablets with Office pre-installed. More money for MS...

So MS pledged to support Mac in 1996/7 when Jobs returned. MS only started boasting about cross platform compatibility 1-2 years ago…the speech about printing out the same document & comparing them side by side etc.
Therefore MS Office for iOS will be great on the iPad 19? Yawn MS, you're a Software company - go make some software!

So we're faced with severely limited functionality AND have to install 3 different apps just to view documents from each piece of software? If they're only going to offer a viewer then why can't they consolidate it into a single app?

HA! I knew it!

There is no way MS would offer a full-fledged working copy of Office for iOS. It's their flagship product for Win8 and the new Win8 tablets. Makes sense from MS's perspective to milk subscriptions to Office 360 yet keep the apps crippled for Apple devotees. Quite clever actually.

This settles the clear distinction between a useless iPad in the Enterprise market and everything else. iOS users are stuck with consumer apps like Pages, Numbers and Keynote - things the corporate world will never use.

Seriously, ugh. I don't mind only basic functionality, but the fact one would need a subscription to use it is rubbish.

saud0488 said:

But Pages always has, and always will, suck.

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Please explain.

I have Office2 but found it a little buggy. Is Pages not stable, or is it just the interface you don't like?

Renzatic said:

Like Google Docs, but Office.

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I was kinda being sarcastic. In any case, this is a none starter for me - MS needs to realize that mobile devices don't always have access to networks. Mind you, maybe this is what MS wants: a way of leveraging Surface.

Renzatic said:

Like Google Docs, but Office.

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Um, no. It's like Office (Pro) but rented for a year, on 5 machines. It's not that bad a deal, actually.

Krazy Bill said:

HA! I knew it!

There is no way MS would offer a full-fledged working copy of Office for iOS. It's their flagship product for Win8 and the new Win8 tablets. Makes sense from MS's perspective to milk subscriptions to Office 360 yet keep the apps crippled for Apple devotees. Quite clever actually.

This settles the clear distinction between a useless iPad in the Enterprise market and everything else. iOS users are stuck with consumer apps like Pages, Numbers and Keynote - things the corporate world will never use.

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Exactly! Apple is focussing more on consumers while MS focusing on enterprise. Even processor migration from intel to Arm(Single purpose consumable devices) architecture etc...in the Mac

If there is no seamless integration between work and life (unless life becomes work) people need to carry multiple device. This looks to me the fight between IBM (enterprise) Vs MS (end users)....

And to confirm…
" the next big app will be on Surface" Ballmer 2012.
This is the only way this will happen

BoxOfSnoo said:

Please explain.

…Is Pages not stable, or is it just the interface you don't like?

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Nobody uses it except soccer moms for the occasional garage sale flyer. The world needs 100% MS-Office compatibility and Pages fails at this.

Cydonia said:

Therefore MS Office for iOS will be great on the iPad 19? Yawn MS, you're a Software company - go make some software!

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And there was a time when Apple was just a computer company…

BoxOfSnoo said:

Um, no. It's like Office (Pro) but rented for a year, on 5 machines. It's not that bad a deal, actually.

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Ahh. Consider me corrected.

1080p said:

So... Microsoft is going to kick 30% to Apple for subscriptions to the Office 365 service? Isn't part of the T&C of the AppStore?

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Only if you allow subscription creation through the app itself or through a link contained within the app. If the subscriptions are handled through a web site completely external to the app and the app just handles logins into an account to validate the subscription status then you don't need to pay the 30%...

This is why the kindle app has no option to buy books or links to the amazon web site to go to buy new books - it just shows you stuff you've already bought.

I'm surprised Apple is not placing a call to Microsoft to try and work out something a little better for iOS devices..... Having a close to fully functioning Office Suite on the ipad and iPhone could really push these devices into the enterprise stratosphere, and give Apple a huge boost. But perhaps they dont really care that much about it, and instead believe numbers and pages can some day be relevant in the business world.

1080p said:

So... Microsoft is going to kick 30% to Apple for subscriptions to the Office 365 service? Isn't part of the T&C of the AppStore?

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Good point

Not Again!

Part of the reason that Microsoft continues to flounder in the post PC era, is everything can only be "good" if it runs on their stuff. They tie their developers hands behind their backs working on Office for iOS because it might be "too good" and might drive people... well, that have already been driven to other platforms. They need to make the best office they can for ALL platforms so it's a win / win no matter where the market goes. Balmer needs to go before he destroys the company any more.. They have had 3 years to develop a jaw dropping version of Office for iOS that will make them hundreds of millions of dollars...

TXCraig said:

Part of the reason that Microsoft continues to flounder in the post PC era, ... They need to make the best office they can for ALL platforms so it's a win / win no matter where the market goes.

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LOL!

Why in god's name should MS be expected to provide the exact same app support for a competing product instead of keeping it exclusive for it's own OS and tablets? What do you want next... iOS apps that run on the Kindle?

Honestly... I really hope some of you people don't manage stock portfolios for a living.

Krazy Bill said:

This settles the clear distinction between a useless iPad in the Enterprise market and everything else. iOS users are stuck with consumer apps like Pages, Numbers and Keynote - things the corporate world will never use.

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Funny that both IBM and Oracle offer iOS clients for their products. It's not as replacements for computers these devices succeed but as complements.

Edit:

Regarding the article, Pages already supports Word documents and I doubt that anyone is going to use a tablet as a primary typing tool anyway. The issue that stood out to me about this isn't that it has limited functionality, but that it requires a Microsoft account.

peterdevries said:

They have. They will offer it on the Surface. The soon major competitor to the iPad. Microsoft is being smart. They don't want all these iPad owners to download Office and be happy. They want iPad owners to sell those things and buy Surface tablets with Office pre-installed. More money for MS...

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And you know what this says to me? Surface/WinRT version of Office will be subscription based. THAT is the bad news.

Seriously perplexed at how it can take Microsoft so long to offer basic functionality, notwithstanding the fact that such functionality (i.e. viewing Office documents) is pretty much baked into iOS. Add to that already available alternative solutions for editing (Pages, Numbers, DocsToGo; heck, even Google Drive) and their efforts seem to be too little, too late.

If this is honestly how Office for iOS is going to be, I am going to make the more economical choice and buy the iWork suite.

I'd rather pay a 1 time $30 fee for 3 programs with unlimited future functionality, than pay the $4-$20/month for editing documents.

Rudy69 said:

Took this long to offer "basic functionality"? Why bother then? There's already applications that can open Office documents.

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Yea, but they all suck.

Glassed Silver:mac

Krazy Bill said:

LOL!

Why in god's name should MS be expected to provide the exact same app support for a competing product instead of keeping it exclusive for it's own OS and tablets? What do you want next... iOS apps that run on the Kindle?

Honestly... I really hope some of you people don't manage stock portfolios for a living.

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Perhaps you are unaware of the timeline? The first tablet to gain any sort of foothold in actual sales was the iPad, and it came out 2.5 years ago. Microsoft still does not currently sell any tablets. Even their commercials for Win8 show Sony and Lenovo tablets.

So, saying "competing product" is hardly accurate. MS has missed out on years of revenue.* And they still could have done simple versions, only to come out with more advanced versions for the Surface, someday.


* Meaning either they failed by not offering software revenue to their stockholders, or they failed by not coming out with hardware earlier, to give revenue to stockholders.

Krazy Bill said:

LOL!

Why in god's name should MS be expected to provide the exact same app support for a competing product instead of keeping it exclusive for it's own OS and tablets? What do you want next... iOS apps that run on the Kindle

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Isn't MS Office for OS X the same as it is for Windows, aside from the fact that it runs like hot garbage on OS X?

daneoni said:

In which case they might as well not bother.

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They want to make people hungry for Office and either pay up for Office 365 (not gonna happen on my end I can tell ya) or switch the ecosystem if they need it a lot and want to get the best experience.

Microsoft isn't as generous as people believe they are.
Surely they offer a great Office version for Mac, but they only do that, because Macs hardly cut into their profits and for a long time now Office is their main money magnet.
Windows? No more...

Now, they really want to push Windows Phone and Windows RT, so they try to make their software available to others, but they are a little bitchy about it and try to force you into their ecosystem or pay a lot more than you would for a full blown mobile suite as one-off purchase.

Now, that's of course still more generous than what many other companies do.

Glassed Silver:mac